fair neck and sparkling eyes, and called her by her name. "O thou strange
Goddess! wouldst thou again deceive me? Now Menelaus hath conquered Paris,
and will carry me home--accursed as I am! And now do _thou_ no more return
to Olympus, but leave the dwelling of the Gods, and go and sit by Paris,
till he make _thee_ his wife--or perchance, his slave. But _I_ will not go
to him; for all the Trojan women would justly blame me hereafter; I have
innumerable griefs within my heart."
Then was the bright goddess sore displeased, and spake harshly to her.
"Beware! thou foolish woman! lest in my wrath I leave thee, and henceforth
hate thee, as I have loved thee until now!" Venus spake, and Helen,
daughter of great Zeus, trembled and obeyed, wrapping her beautiful
garments about her; and the goddess led her to the fragrant chamber in the
palace, and set her on a chair before the goodly Paris.
But Helen looked askance at her lord, and chode him with bitter words.
"Would that thou hadst never come back from the fight, but hadst perished
by the arm of the warrior who was once my husband! Thou didst boast
thyself to be a better man than Menelaus! Go then, and challenge him
again, to meet thee face to face once more!"
Yet Helen, though she could not but despise Paris, soon became reconciled
to him, partly from a remnant of her former love for him, and partly from
her fear of Venus.
In the meantime, Menelaus was raging through the field in search of him.
Nor could any of the Trojans find him, or they would have given him up;
for they hated him like death, as the cause of all their sufferings.
And King Agamemnon said to the Trojans, "Now that the Mars-loving Menelaus
hath conquered Paris do ye give back to us Helen and all her treasures!"
But this was not to be.
THE DUEL BETWEEN HECTOR AND AJAX
By Walter C. Perry
And now we must speak of Hector, the noble Trojan prince, who, after
Achilles, was the most famous warrior of the two hostile armies. Achilles,
indeed, was the son of a goddess, even silver-footed Thetis; while
Hector's mother, Hecuba, was a mortal woman.
Well knowing the dangers to which he was exposed, and how soon he might
fall in battle, Hector now bethought him of his lovely wife, Andromache,
and his little boy Astyanax. When he came to the Scæan Gate, the Trojan
women came running to him, with eager questions about their husbands,
sons, and brothers; and sorrow filled their hearts. Among them came his
fond and generous mother, Hecuba, leading by the hand the fairest of her
daughters, Laodice, and she called him by his name, and spoke: "Dear Son!
why hast thou left the field? Do the Achaians press thee hard? Dost thou
come to make prayers to Father Zeus, from the Citadel? But come, I will
bring thee honey-sweet wine, that thou mayest pour out a libation to
Almighty Zeus, the Son of Cronos, and refresh thyself with a draught."
But Hector answered her, "Bring me no luscious wine, dear mother! lest
thou rob me of my strength and courage. Nor dare I make a libation to
Zeus, with hands unwashen and soiled with blood. But go thou to the Temple
of Athene, driver of the spoil; and lay the finest robe, the most precious
to thyself, upon her knees; and vow to sacrifice twelve fat kine to her;
and beg her to have mercy on the Trojans, and on their wives and little
children! So, perhaps, she will hold back the terrible warrior, Tydides,
from sacred Ilium. And I will go and seek out Paris; would that the earth
would swallow him up! for Zeus hath cherished him to be the bane of his
country, and of his father Priam."
Then Hecuba went to her ambrosial chamber, and took the finest of her
embroidered robes, the work of Sidonian women, which shone like a star;
and went, with other aged women, to the temple of Athene. And the
fair-cheeked Theano, daughter of Kisseus, the priestess, wife of Antenor,
opened the temple gates, and took the shining robe, and laid it upon
Athene's knees, and prayed to the great daughter of Zeus. But the goddess
did not grant her prayer.
But Hector went his way to the fair palace of Paris, and found him in his
chamber, polishing his beautiful armor, and proving his curved bow. Then,
when Hector saw him, he reproached him with bitter words. "O thou strange
man! thou dost not well to nurse thy spite against the Trojans, who are
now perishing before the city, and all for thy sake! Rise, then, now, lest
the city be burned with fire!"
And the goodly Paris answered, "It is not so much by reason of my wrath
against the Trojans, but I would fain indulge my sorrow. My wife, too,
hath urged me to the battle. Tarry then awhile, and I will don my armor;
or go thou before, and I will follow."
Then the divine Helen, daughter of great Zeus, came and spoke gently to
Hector, and said, "O brother! brother of vile _me_, who am a dog--would
that, when my mother bare me, the storm-wind had snatched me away to a
mountain, or a billow of the loud-roaring sea had swept me away, before
all these evil things had befallen me! Would that I had been mated with a
better man than Paris, whose heart is not sound, and never will be. But
come, my brother, and sit by me; for thou verily hast suffered most for
me, who am a dog, and for the grievous sin of Paris, upon whom, surely,
Zeus is bringing evil days; he will be, hereafter, a song of scorn in the
mouths of future men, through all time to come."
But noble Hector answered her, "If thou lovest me, dear Helen, bid me not
stay; for I go to succor my friends, who long for me in my absence. But do
thou try and rouse this husband of thine, and bid him overtake me. As for
me, I shall first go to my home, and to my wife and my little son; for who
knoweth whether I shall ever return to them again?"
So spake the glorious Hector, and went his way to his own well-furnished
house; but he found not Andromache there; for she had gone to the tower,
with her fair-robed nurse and with her boy, all bathed in tears. Hector
asked the servants whither the white-armed Andromache was gone; and the
busy matron of the house replied, "She is gone to the tower of holy Troy;
for she heard that the Trojans were defeated, and the Achaians
victorious." Then Hector returned, by the same way, down the wide streets,
and came to the Scæan Gate.
And his peerless wife, even Andromache, daughter of the high-minded
Eëtion, king of Cilicia--she whom he had won by countless gifts--came
running to meet him. And with her came the handmaid, the nurse, bearing in
her arms Hector's tender boy, Astyanax, beautiful as the morning star. And
Hector smiled, and looked on his darling boy, while Andromache stood
beside him weeping. And she clasped his hand, and called him by his name.
"O my dear lord, thy dauntless courage will destroy thee! Hast thou no
pity for thy infant child, and for thy hapless wife, who soon will be a
widow? It were far better for me to die, if I lose _thee_; for nevermore
can I know comfort, but only pain and sorrow. For I shall be utterly
alone. I have neither father nor mother; for Eëtion, my royal sire, was
slain by great Achilles. And all my seven brothers went down to Hades on
the selfsame day! they too were slain by swift-footed Pelides. But my
mother was smitten in her father's halls, by the gentle arrows of the
archer Artemis. Lo! now, _thou_ art all in all to me, father, mother,
brother, and dearly loved husband! Come, then, take pity on us, and abide
in the tower, and make not thy boy an orphan, and thy wife a widow!"
And the glorious Hector of the glancing helm answered her, and said, "Dear
Wife! I too think of all these things. But how can I shun the battle, like
a coward, to be the mock of the Trojans, and of the Trojan dames with
trailing robes? I, who have always fought in the van of battle, and won
glory for my father and myself? I know that the day will come, when sacred
Ilium shall be leveled with the ground, and Priam and the people of Priam
shall perish. But it is not so much the fate of Priam, and of my mother,
Hecuba, and of my brethren, which fills my soul with anguish; but it is
_thy_ misery, dear one, in the day when some Achaian warrior shall bear
thee away, weeping, and rob thee of thy freedom. Thou, alas! wilt abide in
Argos, and ply the loom, the slave of another woman; or bear water from
the Hypereian fount, being harshly treated! And one will say, as he
looketh upon thee, 'This was the wife of Hector, the foremost of the
horse-taming Trojans in the war round Ilium.' But may the deep earth cover
_me_, ere I hear thee crying in the day of thy captivity."
So spake he, and held out his arms to take his darling boy. But the child
shrank crying, and nestled in the bosom of his well-girdled nurse; for he
feared the horsehair crest, nodding terribly from the brazen helmet. Then
the fond parents laughed; and Hector doffed his helmet, and laid it on the
ground. And he kissed his dear child, and fondled him, and prayed thus to
Zeus:--
"O Zeus! and all ye Gods! grant that this, my son, may like me be foremost
to fight among the Trojans, and rule as a king in Ilium; so that men may
say, 'He is far better than his father'!"
Thus speaking, he laid the child in the fragrant bosom of his dear wife
Andromache; and he pitied her, and caressed her with his hand, and called
her by her name. "Dear one! be not thus utterly cast down. No man can slay
me till my hour of destiny is come. But no man, when once he hath been
born, can escape his fate, be he a brave man or a coward. Go thou to thy
house, to the distaff and the loom, and make thy maidens ply their labors.
But _men_ shall engage in war, and I the first of all in Troy."
So spake Hector of the glancing helmet, and went his way. And his dear
wife went to her home, looking back at him as she went, shedding bitter
tears. And she found her maidens there, and with them she bewailed her
lord, while yet he lived; for they feared that he would never again return
from battle.
And the goodly Paris donned his beautiful armor, and hastened after his
brother, whom he overtook, and he made excuse for his long tarrying. And
Hector answered him, "No man can justly speak lightly of thy deeds, for
thou art strong; but thou art slack and careless, and I am grieved when I
hear shameful things said of thee by the Trojans, who for thee bear so
much toil. But let us be going."
So the twain brothers, the glorious Hector and the goodly Paris, went
forth to the battle. And Paris slew Menesthius, of Arne, son of Areïthous;
and Hector smote noble Eïoneus in the neck, and relaxed his limbs in
death. And Glaucus, captain of the Lycian allies, cast his spear at
Iphinous, and pierced his shoulder; and he fell from his chariot, and his
limbs were loosened.
But when the fierce-eyed Athene saw the Trojans making havoc of the
Achaians, she rushed down from the peaks of Olympus, to sacred Ilium. And
Apollo, who favored the Trojans, saw her from Pergamus, and hastened to
meet her; and they met by the beech-tree, and Apollo of the Silver Bow
addressed her: "Why dost thou come, O Daughter of the Loud-Thunderer? Is
it to bring victory to the Greeks? for thou hast no pity on the Trojans.
But hearken unto me, and let us stop the battle for this day--hereafter
they shall fight again."
And the fierce-eyed goddess answered him, "Be it so, Far-Darter! for this
was my purpose when I came from high Olympus. But how thinkest thou to
make the war to cease?"
Then King Apollo spake. "Let us rouse the valiant spirit of horse-taming
Hector, to challenge one of the Greeks to deadly single combat." And the
fierce-eyed Maid assented to his words.
And the dear son of royal Priam, Helenus, the wise augur, who knew the
counsel of the Gods, drew near to Hector, and spake thus to him: "Dear
brother, who art peer of Zeus in counsel, wouldst thou listen to me? Make
the Trojans and the Achaians sit down; and do thou challenge the bravest
of the Achaians to meet thee in single combat. I hear the voice of the
deathless Gods, that it is not yet thy lot to die."
And the great Hector rejoiced at his words; and going into the throng, he
held back the companies of the Trojans with his spear, holding it in the
middle, and made them all sit down. And Agamemnon made the well-greaved
Achaians sit down. And Athene and Apollo, in the form of vultures, sat on
a lofty tree, and watched the hosts. And Hector stood between the two
armies, and spake: "Hear me, ye Trojans and Achaians! Amongst you are the
great chiefs of the Achaians. Now let one of these be your champion, to
fight with me, Hector: and I call Zeus to witness, that if he slay me, you
shall let him carry off my armor, but give my body to the Trojans, that
they may render to me the honor of the funeral pyre. But if the Far-Darter
shall grant me glory, that I may slay _him_, then will I strip him of his
armor, and hang it in the Temple of Apollo; but his lifeless body I will
give back to the long-haired Achaians, that they may bury him, and build
him a barrow by the Hellespont."
Thus spake the glorious Hector; but all were silent; for they were afraid
to meet him. Then, at last, Menelaus, groaning deeply, reproached the
Achaians, and said, "O ye women of Achaia, no longer _men!_ surely this
will be an everlasting shame to us, if none of the Greeks dare to fight
with the noble Hector! But I myself will arm me; for the issues of victory
are with the Gods."
And he began to put on his dazzling armor. And now wouldst thou, Menelaus,
have yielded up thy life at the hands of Hector; but the great ruler,
Agamemnon, rose up and stayed thee. "Art thou mad, O foster-son of Zeus?
Draw back, though with grief and pain; and think not to fight with Hector,
the man-slaying son of Priam; for he is a far better man than thou, even
godlike Achilles feareth to meet this man in battle. Go then and sit down;
and we will choose another champion."
And the fair-haired Menelaus obeyed his brother's words, and his henchmen
gladly took off his bright armor. And the wise Nestor arose, and upbraided
all the Achaian chiefs: "Fie on us! Shame and lamentation have come upon
us all. Surely the aged Peleus, the goodly king of the Myrmidons, would
deeply groan, if he heard that we are all cowering before great Hector; he
would pray that his soul might leave his body and go down to Hades. Would
to Zeus, and to Athene and Apollo, that I were young, as when the Pylians
met the Arcadians in battle, and Ereuthalion, the squire of King Lycurgus
of Arcadia, wearing the divine armor of Areïthous, of the iron mace,
before the walls of Pheia, by the waters of Iardanus, challenged all our
host; and they were afraid and trembled. Then I, the youngest of all,
stood up and fought with him, and Athene gave me great glory; for he was
the tallest man, and of the greatest bulk, that I have ever slain. Would
that I were still so young and strong! But of you, leaders of the
Achaians, not one has heart enough to meet great Hector."
The wise old man's reproaches filled the Achaian chiefs with shame; and
nine of them rose up, ready to fight; namely, Agamemnon, king of men; and
the stalwart Diomedes; and Idomeneus, and his brother in arms, Meriones,
equal in fight to murderous Mars; and Eurypylus, and Thaus, and the wily
Ulysses, and two others. Then Nestor spake again. "Now cast lots for him
that shall be champion." Then each man marked his lot, and threw it into
Agamemnon's helmet; and all men prayed that the lot might fall on Ajax or
Diomedes, or the king of rich Mycenæ. Then Nestor shook the helmet, and
the lot of Ajax leapt out; and the herald placed it in the hand of mighty
Ajax, and he was glad; for he said, "I think that I shall vanquish goodly
Hector." And they all prayed to the Son of Cronos, to give victory to
Ajax, or to grant unto each of them equal glory and renown.
Then huge Ajax donned his bright armor of bronze, and came forth like the
war-god Mars when he goeth to battle. The Achaians were glad, but the
Trojans trembled; and even the brave Hector felt his heart beat quicker in
his breast. But he would not shrink from the combat, seeing that he had
himself challenged all the Achaians. And Ajax came on, bearing a mighty
shield, like a tower, which Tychius, the cunning leather-worker, had made
for him, of sevenfold hides of lusty bulls, all overlaid with bronze. And
he stood near godlike Hector, and spake: "Now shalt thou see what manner
of men the Greeks have among them, even now when Achilles, the
lion-hearted, hath left us in his wrath. But do thou begin the fight!"
And Hector answered him, "Great Ajax, son of Telamon, sprung from Zeus!
speak not to me as if I were a poor weak boy, or a woman! for I too have
knowledge of war and slaughter. I know how to charge into the midst of the
chariots, or, at close quarters, to join in the wild dance of Mars." He
said, and hurled his long-shafted spear, and struck the sevenfold shield
of Ajax; it passed through six folds, but was stopped by the seventh.
Then Ajax, sprung from Zeus, threw his ponderous lance at the shield of
mighty Priam's son. It passed right through the bright shield, and through
the well-wrought corselet, and rent his tunic; but he swerved aside, and
escaped gloomy death. Then the two fell upon each other, like ravening
lions or wild boars; and Hector smote the shield of Ajax with his spear,
but the sharp point was turned by the stout buckler. Then Ajax leapt upon
him, and drove his spear at Hector's neck, making a wound from which the
dark blood flowed.
But Hector, undismayed, took up a great stone from the ground, and with it
smote the boss of Ajax's shield. And Ajax heaved up a far bigger stone and
threw it on the buckler of Hector, and it fell on him like a huge
millstone, and stretched him on his back! But Apollo raised him, and set
him on his legs again.
Then they would have furiously attacked each other with their swords, had
not the Achaian herald, Talthybius, and the Trojan herald, Idaius,
intervened and stopped the fight, holding their staves of office between
the godlike warriors; and Idaius spake to them: "Fight no longer, brave
youths; for Zeus loveth you both; and we know well what gallant warriors
ye are. Night is upon us, whose commands it behooveth us to obey."
And the Telamonian Ajax answered, "Let Hector say those words; for it was
he who challenged us."
And Hector of the shining helmet said, "Ajax, since thou hast received
strength and wisdom from the Gods, and dost excel all the Achaians in the
fight, let us now cease from battle for the day, and hereafter we will
fight again, until the Gods shall give victory to one of us. Go now, and
rejoice thy friends and kinsmen by the ships, and I will gladden the
hearts of Trojan men and long-robed dames in the holy city of King Priam.
But now let us exchange costly gifts, that Trojans and Achaians may say of
us that we, having met in this heart-gnawing strife, have parted like good
friends." He spake, and gave to Ajax a silver-studded sword; and Ajax gave
him a purple belt. So they parted, and went their way; the one to the
ships of the Achaians, and the other to the holy city of Troy. And the
Trojans rejoiced that Hector had escaped unhurt from the unapproachable
hands of mighty Ajax.
THE DEATH OF PATROCLUS AND THE BATTLE OF THE RIVER
By Alfred J. Church
Patroclus came and stood by the side of Achilles weeping. Then said
Achilles, "What ails thee, Patroclus, that thou weepest like a girl-child
that runs along by her mother's side, and would be taken up, holding her
gown, and looking at her with tearful eyes till she lift her in her arms?
Hast thou heard evil news from Phthia? Menoetius yet lives, they say, and
Peleus. Or art thou weeping for the Greeks, because they perish for their
folly?"
Then said Patroclus, "Be not wroth with me, great Achilles, for indeed the
Greeks are in grievous straits, and all their bravest are wounded, and
still thou cherishest thy wrath. Surely Peleus was not thy father, nor
Thetis thy mother; but the rocks begat thee, and the sea brought thee
forth. Or if thou goest not to battle, fearing some warning from the Gods,
yet let me go, and thy Myrmidons with me. And let me put thy armor on me;
so shall the Greeks have breathing-space from the war."
So he spake, entreating, nor knew that for his own doom he entreated. And
Achilles made reply,--
"It is no warning that I heed, that I keep back from the war. But these
men took from me my prize, which I won with my own hands. But let the past
be past. I said I would not rise up till the battle should come nigh to my
own ships. But thou mayest put my armor upon thee, and lead my Myrmidons
to the fight. For in truth the men of Troy are gathered as a dark cloud
about the ships, and the Greeks have scarce standing-ground between them
and the sea. For they see not the gleam of my helmet. And Diomed is not
there with his spear; nor do I hear the voice of Agamemnon, but only the
voice of Hector as he calls the men of Troy to the battle. Go, therefore,
Patroclus, and drive the fire from the ships. And then come thou back, nor
fight any more with the Trojans, lest thou take my glory from me. And go
not near, in the delight of the battle, to the walls of Troy, lest one of
the Gods meet thee to thy hurt; and, of a truth, the keen Archer Apollo
loves the Trojans well."
But as they talked the one to the other, Ajax could hold out no longer.
For swords and javelins came thick upon him, and clattered on his helmet,
and his shoulder was weary with the great shield which he held; and he
breathed heavily and hard, and the great drops of sweat fell upon the
ground. Then at the last Hector came near and smote his spear with a great
sword, so that the head fell off. Then was Ajax sore afraid, and gave way,
and the men of Troy set torches to the ship's stem, and a great flame shot
up to the sky. And Achilles saw it, and smote his thigh and spake:--
"Haste thee, Patroclus, for I see the fire rising up from the ships. Put
thou on the armor, and I will call my people to the war." So Patroclus put
on the armor--corselet, and shield, and helmet--and bound upon his
shoulder the silver-studded sword, and took a mighty spear in his hand.
But the great Pelian spear he took not, for that no man but Achilles might
wield. Then Automedon yoked the horses to the chariot, Bayard and Piebald,
and with them in the side harness, Pedasus; and they two were deathless
steeds, but he was mortal.
Meanwhile Achilles had called the Myrmidons to battle. Fifty ships had he
brought to Troy, and in each there were fifty men. Five leaders they had,
and the bravest of the five was Pisander.
Then Achilles said, "Forget not, ye Myrmidons, the bold words that ye
spake against the men of Troy during the days of my wrath, making
complaint that I kept you from the battle against your will. Now,
therefore, ye have that which you desired."
So the Myrmidons went to the battle in close array, helmet to helmet, and
shield to shield, close as the stones with which a builder builds a wall.
And in front went Patroclus, and Automedon in the chariot beside him. Then
Achilles went to his tent and took a great cup from the chest, which
Thetis his mother had given him. Now no man drank of that cup but he only,
nor did he pour out of it libations to any of the Gods, but only to Zeus.
This first he cleansed with sulphur, and then with water from the spring.
And after this he washed his hands, and stood in the midst of the space
before his tent, and poured out of it to Zeus, saying, "O Zeus, I send my
comrade to this battle; make him strong and bold, and give him glory, and
bring him home safe to the ships, and my people with him."
So he prayed, and Father Zeus heard him, and part he granted and part
denied.
But now Patroclus with the Myrmidons had come to where the battle was
raging about the ship of Protesilaus, and when the men of Troy beheld him
they thought that Achilles had forgotten his wrath and was come forth to
the war. And first Patroclus slew Pyræchmes, who was the chief of the
Pæonians who live on the banks of the broad Axius. Then the men of Troy
turned to flee, and many chiefs of fame fell by the spears of the Greeks.
So the battle rolled back to the trench, and in the trench many chariots
of the Trojans were broken, but the horses of Achilles went across it at a
stride, so nimble were they and strong. And the heart of Patroclus was set
to slay Hector; but he could not overtake him, so swift were his horses.
Then did Patroclus turn his chariot, and keep back those that fled, that
they should not go to the city, and rushed hither and thither, still
slaying as he went.